Interesting
by prepare4trouble
Summary: The storm blew in unexpectedly, leaving Edgar trapped at the Emerson house with no Alan, and with Sam wanting to talk.


_A/N – Another one of those random ideas that demand to be written. It started life very different to this, but I think I'm happy with the result._

_Disclaimer – I don't own the Lost Boys._

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Interesting

Outside the bedroom window, a storm was raging. Rain pounded hard on the glass, blown by the wind. Punctuated by the occasional rumble of thunder, it created a wonderfully relaxing soundtrack to the night. Sam had always loved storms. What could be seen of the garden was an inch deep in rainwater that was just sitting on the previously parched ground as though it was trying to work out how to soak its way in. In the distance, somewhere over the ocean, thunder rolled ominously. Through the open curtains he could see sheet lightning breaking out in unexpected bursts, illuminating the dark sky until he could see the outline of every cloud.

He pressed his palms against the cool glass of the window, leaning his forehead on the backs of his hands, as close as he could get to the storm without actually being outside in it. His warm breath misted the glass. Even through the tightly closed window, he could smell that unmistakable scent of rain. The world seemed to come alive during a storm, the water seemed to wash away the layer of dust left by five weeks of unbroken sunshine, leaving the air fresh and clean. Rain smelled of soil and grass. It smelled of green; the new plants that would begin to grow once the sun came back out. It smelled of life.

Sam had the whole house to himself. It was the first time since moving to Santa Carla; the first time since the vampires. Michael had taken Star and gone to visit their father in Phoenix, but school kept Sam where he was until the summer break finally began. His mom was working the close at the video store, and she had almost called to say she couldn't make it when her father had announced he was staying over at the widow Johnson's that night. Sam had insisted he would be fine. He wasn't a kid any more. Well, he was, but he wasn't a baby. He could handle an empty house.

Only, he couldn't handle it. As soon as she agreed, he wanted to backtrack, tell her to stay home. But he couldn't do that. The vampires were gone. It was time he stopped worrying about them. He hadn't had a nightmare in weeks. Instead he had grinned confidently, promised to be in bed by eleven, and then asked if he could have his friends over.

The storm had blown in unexpectedly. Or unexpectedly for Sam, who never paid much attention to the weather report. In Santa Carla you generally didn't need to, the weather was predictable. But every now and then, it surprised you. The day had been muggy. Close, his mom called. it. His grandpa had told him he could feel a storm coming. Sam had shrugged, uninterested, and gone off to school.

A flash of lightning filled the sky with white light and illuminated the darkened bedroom at the exact same time as a crack of thunder sounded out so loudly that the foundations of the house seemed to shake. Sam's fingers gripped the window ledge tightly as his whole body jerked in surprise at the unexpected simultaneous assault on his senses. He laughed nervously, embarrassed at his reaction, and turned around. Edgar was laying on his bed looking unimpressed, squinting at a comic book by the meager light of a tiny flashlight.

"Did you hear that?" Sam asked.

Edgar moved the beam of his flashlight from the pages of one of Sam's Spiderman comics to Sam's face. Sam squinted and shielded his eyes from the light.

"Yeah, I heard it."

"Thunder and lighting at the same time. It means the storm's right on top of us now. Have you seen the way they rain's bouncing off the ground out there?"

Edgar took a deep breath and switched off the flashlight. "Yeah, Sam. I've seen it. I was out in it, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Sam grinned. Edgar's hair had been toweled dry, his clothes slung over the back of a chair to allow the worst of the water to evaporate, and he was currently dressed in some of Sam's least exuberant clothes. Plain black jeans and a t-shirt proclaiming him to be the superhero 'Captain Awesome'. Edgar and Alan had gone home after school to get some things, Alan had stayed back to make sure their parents would be able to handle the shop alone for one night, while Edgar had set off on his bike on a warm but cloudy Friday afternoon and arrived in a monsoon.

So now, Alan wasn't coming. Only a crazy person would venture out in that if they had a choice. Edgar almost headed straight back home when his brother called, but Sam talked him out of it. Edgar, it turned out, was a sucker for the offer of cocoa and a warm house over the possibility of having to swim home.

Edgar frowned at him. "If you're laughing at the clothes, just remember I have to look at you in worse than this every day!"

Sam rearranged his features into something as close to hurt as he could muster, but the look on Edgar's face was just too funny for him to keep it up.

"Can we put the light on now?" Edgar asked. "It's really hard to read in the dark."

"But with the light off, we can see the lightning so much better," Sam told him. "You shouldn't be reading anyway," he pouted, "you're supposed to be keeping me company. And there's supposed to be two of you. If Alan can't come, the least you can do is make up for it by talking to me."

Edgar rolled his eyes, "Yeah, because if Alan was here, we wouldn't have been able to shut him up."

"Please?" Sam asked, making his eyes wide in faux innocence.

"Fine," Edgar put down the comic on the bed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know."

Outside, another flash of lightning filled the sky. White light hit every surface in the room in three successive flickers, making Edgar's face looked ghostly pale.

Sam flopped down on the bed, next to Edgar. The vampire hunter grunted in irritation and moved out of his way. Sam shuffled and rearranged his position until he was laying on his back, his head on resting on the palms of his hands and his interlocked fingers. He allowed his arm to brush against Edgar's, and turned his head away as the corners of his lips curved into a smile when his friend didn't move any further away.

"What do people normally talk about at slumber parties?" he asked.

"This isn't a slumber party," Edgar informed him matter-of-factly. "Slumber parties are for silly gangs of girls who want to give each other make-overs and talk about boys."

Sam didn't hide his smile this time. He rolled over onto his side, propped his head up on a hand and stared down at Edgar. "Well, we've done the make-over, and I think you look very nice. So, lets talk about boys."

Edgar frowned, he tugged self consciously at the unfamiliar clothes, trying not to make eye contact with Sam. Sam stared down at him intently, waiting. Outside, rain continued to lash at the window.

Finally, Edgar ran out of other places to look, and his eyes drifted up to meet Sam's. Sam grinned down at him, and Edgar was powerless to resist the infectious grin.

"It's not a slumber party," he said.

"Sleepover, then?" Sam offered.

Edgar rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Different word, same principle."

"Seriously though," Sam said. "Boys. Or girls. There must be someone you like around school. You and Alan, you never seem to show any interest in anyone."

Edgar shrugged. "Most people aren't that interesting," he said.

"Well, they don't have to be interesting for you to be interested in them," Sam told him.

"I think they do."

Sam continued to stare, silently waiting. Edgar squirmed in discomfort. For a moment, the rain seemed to slow down, and then another crack of simultaneous thunder and lightning. Already tense from the conversation, and Edgar jumped at the unexpected light and sound. The springs of Sam's old mattress creaked loudly at the movement, and even in the darkness of the unlit bedroom, Sam could see his cheeks coloring.

"Scared you?" Sam asked.

Edgar just glared at him.

"Okay," said Sam, "interesting is better. Makes them appealing on more levels. So who's interesting?"

"Around here?" Edgar looked at him incredulously.

Sam allowed his mind to take a mental tour of the school, trying to see it through Edgar's eyes. Football players, cheerleaders, nerds, punks, surfers. So many different groups, all with their own unique sets of interests, none of them something he could see either of his friends enjoying. As far as Edgar was concerned, the world was split three ways; vampires, civilians, and the Frog brothers. Sam somehow managed to walk the line between civilian and a member of the team, never sure on any given day what his role would be.

So, if Edgar was only interested in people like him, that narrowed his options drastically. Sam smiled internally, keeping his questioning face turned to his friend.

"Am _I_ interesting?"

Edgar made a kind of snorting noise, exhaling through his nose. He sat up and got off the bed.

Sam pouted. "I'll take that as a no, then."

Edgar paced the room in bare feet. He had peeled off his rain-drenched socks and left them next to his sodden boots on the doormat when he had come in. Sam found his eye drawn to the naked skin.

"You're not boring, Sam." Edgar said.

Sam smiled. Not boring equaled interesting to him.

"I don't get this obsession everyone has with paring off," Edgar said. He folded his arms, unfolded them, and then paced the room again. "Why are all teenagers so obsessed with it?"

"Well." Sam lounged on the bed, tracing the outline of the comic book illustrations on his bed covers with one finger. "It's human nature, I suppose."

Edgar shrugged. He walked back to the bed and sat on the end, not looking at Sam. "It's stupid," he said. "Things are fine as they are. Alan, me, you. We don't all have to start looking at girls, going on dates. It gets in the way."

Sam sat up. The bed springs creaked under the strain of the movement. "In the way of what?" he asked.

Edgar shrugged. His eyes flickered from around the room as though he were searching for the answer to Sam's question. "Hunting," he said finally. "If you're going to start dating, you're putting the other person at risk. If the vampires see you with them, they can use that against you."

"There aren't any more vampires," Sam said. He didn't believe that any more than Edgar did. It was the lie he told himself every night before he went to bed.

Edgar pursed his lips exhaled, shaking his head dismissively. Sam scooted over to the end of the bed and sat next to him. He allowed the side of his body to touch Edgar's lightly.

"Okay, there probably are more vampires," he admitted.

Edgar ignored him. The soles of his bare feet rubbed on the carpet as his feet swung back and forth.

Something told Sam that it wasn't just hunting. In fact, it probably wasn't hunting at all, judging by how long it had taken him to come up with that answer.

Sam placed an arm around Edgar's shoulders and squeezed tightly. "I guess you're right. Who needs to date anyway? It's a waste of time. I'd much rather have you guys as friends than some random boyfriend who wouldn't get it. We know the truth, right? Hard to explain vampires to someone who doesn't believe in them."

Lightning flashed again. Thunder followed a few seconds later. The rain seemed to be abating slightly.

"Tell me about it," Edgar said. "It was hard enough convincing you, and you were living with one."

"Lets make a deal," Sam said. The arm draped around Edgar's shoulders suddenly grabbed him tightly and pulled him backwards until he was laying on the bed. "No dating. None of us. We just stay exactly the same as we are now. Like a threesome." He frowned. "Well, that's kind of the wrong word, but..." he shrugged.

Edgar lay on his back on the bed. Sam flopped down next to him, waiting for a response. His hand rested on Edgar's. It hadn't been intentional, but he was very aware of it, and moving would only draw attention to it, so he remained completely still.

"Well?"

Edgar sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

"Great! Sam released Edgar's hand, disguising it as the motion of shuffling up the bed. Edgar remained where he was, staring at the ceiling. Sam's foot, now adjacent to his hip, gave him a quick prod with his big toe. "But I'm interesting, right?"

Edgar groaned and also moved himself into a more comfortable position. "Yeah, Sam."

"Good," Sam said. He allowed his eyes to close, listening to the sound of the rain. "You're interesting too," he added.

Outside, lightning illuminated the sky again. Sam allowed his eyes to sneak open a crack, just in time to see his friend smile.


End file.
